Part 2: Ideas - Using reference - 1950s short review

Short review of the 1950s from a visual perspective

The 1950s was a time of post war optimism and renewal. It followed the sobriety of the 1940s, a decade of world war and its immediate aftermath, and preceded the cultural and political volatility of the 1960s.

In the UK, during the Second World War (1939-45) and shortly afterwards, manufacturing output concentrated on production of munitions, restoration, food production and goods for export. With limited raw materials the home market suffered shortages and rationing.

Posters commissioned by the government were displayed prominently in public places to boost morale, encourage industrial production, to promote health, safety, savings and austerity and to raise public awareness of national security. The designs were simple and direct.

second world war posters

Throughout the war women had gained employment in occupations that had previously been male-dominated. But as men gradually returned from the war and back into their former jobs, many women relinquished their positions.

Advertising in the 1950s reflected this return to the domestic status quo that had existed before the war. Families and homes were represented as warm, happy places, where the mother was seen caring for family and home, and the father taking responsibility as the breadwinner. Girls were depicted helping their mothers and boys their fathers. Dress was more formal than is seen today, and families were shown looking healthy, well-scrubbed and cheerful.

New and improved technologies and manufacturing production introduced goods like radios, televisions and refrigerators into the marketplace and into the home, and generated a wealth of newly available materials including Formica, fibreglass, rubber, melamine, aluminium, pvc, vinyl and plastics.

Designers, inspired by the rich palette of materials, and the possibilities that they offered, created chairs, tables, shelving units and accessories in new shapes, textures, colours and patterns. Many have become iconic and are still manufactured today.

1950s chairs - Eames glassfibre reinforced plastic chair (1950) and wiremesh chair (1951-53), Jacobsen moulded plywood series 7 chair (1955), Saarinen tulip chair (1956) and Jacobsen egg chair (1958) - all still manufactured today

There were also significant advances in science and technology. In particular, there were two major developments in scientific research that had a widespread effect on design: x-ray diffraction photography in the UK and space exploration by Russia and the USA.

By studying x-ray diffraction photographs of crystals, scientists could determine atomic structure within the molecules. A partnership between scientists, designers and manufacturers was established, known as the Festival Pattern Group, using crystallography as their inspiration, as part of a unique project for the 1951 Festival of Britain. The collaboration produced 80 designs inspired by atomic structures including glass, ceramics, metals, plastics, textiles and wallpaper.

Graphic imagery of atoms, starbursts, planets and galaxies, combined with abstract geometrics, began to appear as stylised motifs repeated across the surface of textiles and in the shapes of furniture and accessories. Colours were clean bright and contrasting in vibrant yellow, electric blue, orange, red, black and white, or pastels of bubble gum pink, turquoise, pistachio and pale blue.

1950s textile designs

1950s accessories - clock, Eames 'hang it all' coat rack and atomic magazine rack

The countries of Scandinavia were also recovering from the war. Together they organised a travelling exhibition to promote Scandinavian design. Their design philosophy placed great significance on function and comfort, the use of natural materials and low cost mass production. This philosophy had been established in the 1920s and 1930s with modernist designers like Alvar Aalto, whose experimentation with bent plywood produced furniture in simple organic shapes that received international success. The 1950s tour was similarly successful. The Scandinavian style gained worldwide popularity bringing a tranquil palette of clean lines, organic shapes and natural materials.

Alvar Aalto bent wood chairs (1931-32)

The 1950s was a decade of responsibility and prudence. There was a make-do-and-mend attitude: clean living and family values were promoted, and wastefulness was discouraged. The 1960s brought instability as groups fought for individuality, and consumerism and cheap mass production brought about the throwaway society. This was represented in the work of pop artists such as Andy Warhol.

Andy Warhol consumerism paintings from the 1960s

The environmental issues and financial upheavals of today have brought a more responsible and sympathetic approach to life. Maybe this is why many of the present-day designs in furniture and textiles are reminiscent of the 1950s.